Banking

Bloomberg The new US sanctions law threatens to cut off a vital channel for Russia’s funding of its massive defense buildup, according to four people familiar with the situation. Officials in the government and state banks—Sberbank PJSC and VTB Bank PJSC are the biggest players—are looking for ways to get around the restrictions or minimise their impact on the funding, ...

Reuters France’s Credit Agricole has agreed to sell about half its 31.1 percent stake in Banque Saudi Fransi to billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal’s Kingdom Holding for $1.54 billion. The sale was part of a wider review of Credit Agricole’s assets and markets to meet new banking rules and tougher economic conditions. Sources had said in March it picked JPMorgan ...

Bloomberg As the Swiss franc weakens, the nation’s central bank must decide whether it can afford to relax a little. The currency’s 5 percent decline against the euro over the past three months is good news for the Swiss National Bank in its long-running bid to revive inflation. For President Thomas Jordan and fellow policy makers meeting this week, it ...

Bloomberg Banks from China, Japan and Canada have overseen a surge in overseas lending since the financial crisis, helping to cushion a deep slide in cross-border capital flows thanks especially to a retreat by European banks, according to the McKinsey Global Institute. While the stock of global foreign holdings—including loans, equities, bonds and foreign direct investment—has remained about the same ...

Bloomberg The Reserve Bank of India will have scope to cut benchmark interest rates once again as growth in Asia’s third-largest economy slows and consumer-price gains stay within the central bank’s target range, according to Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Co. “You have a confluence of favorable CPI, lower GDP growth and a necessity to keep rates stable with easing bias,” ...

Bloomberg Japan’s regional banks are turning toward private equity, hedge funds and real estate in search of higher returns as regulatory concerns restrict ownership of foreign bonds. Alternative assets was the favoured choice of investment for five lenders, according to a Bloomberg survey of 11 regional banks conducted in August. Foreign bonds was picked by three respondents, while none of ...

Bloomberg Standard Bank Group Ltd. appointed Sim Tshabalala as sole chief executive officer, ending a dual role he shared with Ben Kruger, and making him the first black person to lead Africa’s largest lender independently. Kruger, 58, will step down as joint-CEO immediately and continue as an executive director, reporting to Tshabalala, 49, Johannesburg-based Standard Bank said. The joint leadership ...

Bloomberg IndusInd Bank Ltd., the Indian lender pursuing a takeover of Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd., is negotiating a potential deal valuing the microfinance provider at about $2.2 billion, according to people with knowledge of the matter. IndusInd, backed by the billionaire Hinduja brothers, is discussing a valuation of around 1,040 rupees per Bharat Financial share, according to the people. That ...

Bloomberg China plans to ban trading of bitcoin and other virtual currencies on domestic exchanges, dealing another blow to the $150 billion cryptocurrency market after the country outlawed initial coin offerings. The ban will only apply to trading of cryptocurrencies on exchanges, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the information is private. ...

Bloomberg Traders who have placed bullish bets on the pound may find their nerves tested this week, with sterling likely to buffeted by everything from Brexit to the Bank of England. Sterling posted its biggest weekly gain versus the dollar since June, benefiting from a falling dollar after dovish comments from Federal Reserve officials and ongoing tensions with North Korea. ...